What You Deserve

In a country that prides itself on freedom, we are given some privileges that we often take for granted, simply because it is hard to imagine not having the right to make choices. When I see articles on the injustices happening in other countries, see commercials with starving children, I can’t picture myself ever living in that kind of oppression. I remember how lucky I am to have been born where and when I was born, even though I know my world, our country, isn’t perfect.

So what comes with the culture of this country is often the attitude that we all deserve certain things. If you work hard or scheme successfully, you can live the American Dream. This creates an environment of competition, of greed, of comparing what we have to what others have. Jealousy is born, followed by hatred, and we lose sight of what we were originally looking to achieve. Many people will get things that they don’t deserve, or didn’t earn. Sometimes luck and timing and sacrifice will be the reasons why people get what they get. Sometimes, you will be able to say, “I’m really happy that happened to soandso. He really earned it.”

But what it really comes down to is the one question: What is it that we all deserve? We all deserve the freedom to live the way we want to live so long as it is not damaging to others. We deserve the right to make our own choices and our own mistakes. We deserve the right to disagree, to stand up for what we believe in. We all deserve the opportunity to fall in love. But what we all deserve more than anything else is to be happy.

But what makes people happy differs greatly, and some will never be happy with what they have. The balance of always wanting more and being grateful for what one has is off kilter — the bigger picture of just how lucky we are to be living in this moment is often forgotten. Happiness can be simple and requires us all to be grateful for what we have. Happiness requires us to work hard for what we want and not to expect that it should just be handed to us like it may be for others.

Happiness starts with a smile and a humble attitude. Happiness starts with the gratitude of receiving another day to make it right.